Title

Authors

Files

Completion Date

6-1-2011

Advisor

Matthew Kelly

Abstract/Description

Introduction:Following the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18th 1980, the ecosystem of Spirit Lake was dramatically altered and, since then, there has been a significant increase in the amount of primary productivity in the south end of the lake. The focus of this research is to identify land cover types surrounding Spirit Lake which, in the future, could be used to identify possible nutrient point sources flowing into surface waters entering the lake. The watershed pouring into the lake is covered by nitrogen-fixing vegetation that could potentially be contributing to the increased productivity. The work completed for this project is the initial phase of forming a relationship between land cover and nutrient cycling at Spirit Lake.